Lauren Long/The Post-StandardGordon Merkel of Mount Morris swoops down toward the ground while taking his powered parachute for a flight Wednesday at Gulliver's Wilderness Airpark in Palermo. This week's event, which runs through Sunday, marks the tenth annual fly-in which showcases numerous types of small aircraft.

If you go What: Gulliver’s Wilderness Airpark Fly-In Where: 1222 Red Schoolhouse Road, Palermo When: Sunup to sundown today through Sunday. Cost: Free admission and parking. Food: Available to buy at the site. Most activity: From 7 to 8 a.m. and from 6 to 7 p.m. Takeoffs and landings are all weather-dependent — the less wind, the more planes will be in the air. Information: Call 593-1403

Anyone hoping to see ultralight aircraft this year at Gulliver’s Wilderness Airpark will have their only chance during a fly-in beginning today.

For the last three or four years, Jean and Gary Gulliver have had fly-ins at their Palermo airpark in July and August. But this year, they are hosting only the July event.

The fly-in begins today and runs through Sunday at the airpark at 1222 Red Schoolhouse Road.

Jean Gulliver said this year’s event will have a breast cancer awareness theme, as she was diagnosed in June with invasive ductal cell carcinoma. Her doctors are confident it was caught early enough and she will begin treatment after the fly-in is over.

There will be tables filled with breast cancer information and items for sale concerning breast cancer. All proceeds go to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

Gulliver said all types of ultralight aircraft will be coming for the 13th annual fly-in. Ultralights are considered any aircraft weighing less than 254 pounds that operate on no more than five gallons of gasoline. Some have triangular wings, others powered parachutes or powered backpacks. There also are ultralight helicopters.

“Last July, we had 30 aircraft, which was a record breaker for us,” she said. “And a lot of them are returning this year.”

Ultralights are coming to Palermo from New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Canada, she said.

“It will be pretty laid back this year, no memorials,” Jean Gulliver aid. “It will be standard, from sunup to sundown.”

Last year, a memorial was conducted during the August fly-in for Robert Hurd, 71, of Camden, Oneida County, a 50-year ultralight aircraft pilot who died shortly before the fly-in when the pontoon plane he was piloting crashed in a swamp near First Lake in Old Forge. Hurd had been coming to fly-ins at Gulliver’s airpark for 12 years.

The first Gulliver’s fly-in was held in 1999 with seven planes and 75 people attending. Last year, 30 ultralights flew in and as many as 700 people came to watch.

“The backpacks do toe drags and then go back up,” Jean Gulliver said last year. “They have a chute behind them with an engine with a prop. I call them my Fred Flintstone guys because they have to run along before they take off.”

The pilots who bring their aircraft to the show love to visit with attendees to talk about their planes and show off what they can do in the air. They also talk about safety.

According to airplane-and-aircraft.com, ultralights were created from hang gliders in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Small engines were attached to hang gliders to create the first ultralights, then landing gear was added.

The website also said ultralight aircraft provide a way for people to learn to fly at a less expensive cost than flying a full-size airplane. Many pilots of commercial jets for companies such as United, Southwest or Continental own and fly ultralights as a hobby, the site says.

The Gullivers got into the air business when Gary Gulliver bought an ultralight to restore and began attending ultralight shows.

From there, they built their airpark. The first landing and takeoff strip was completed in fall 1998 and is 100 feet wide and 1,500 feet long. The second, also a grassy strip, was built in 2002 and is 100 feet wide and 2,000 feet long.